Better Roads

2012 BRIDGE INVENTORY make a difference with his agency's ability to repair bridges. "A two-year bill does not provide the long-term planning avenue," he says. But state agencies are not allowing A Five-Year Look at America's Bridges Type of Bridge 2008 the lukewarmth of MAP-21 derail them. For example, Mills Gotcher, Okla- homa Department of Transportation media and public relations represen- tative, tells Better Roads that although funding availability remains the state's greatest challenge in lower- ing bridge defi ciency rates, MAP-21 "offers more funding fl exibility and stability to deliver our bridge pro- gram. The emphasis on bridge preservation has resulted in a dramatic improvement in the condition of the on-system bridges." In fact, Oklahoma has embarked on an ambitious journey Percentage City/county bridges Total surveyed *SD/FO Percentage *SD/FO Percentage that started in 2002 with a $5.5 billion highway and bridge improvement program that will address all of Oklahoma's defi cient bridges by the end of 2020, following the Sept.10 approval by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission of the Federal Fiscal Year 2013 eight-year construction work plan. The program includes "all on-system known SD bridges be addressed by 2020," Gotcher says. "A signifi cant portion of these bridges are included for the coming year." In the past year, one bridge has been closed in Oklahoma because of structural failure or collapse and four have been closed in the last fi ve years. All increased funding proposed by Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin's "Bridge Improvement and Turnpike Modernization Plan," which was approved by the state legislature in May and signed by Fallin, means the eight- year plan includes the replacement or rehabilitation of the remaining 634 SD highway bridges. The plan includes 2,030 total projects and 951 bridge replacement or major rehabilitation projects. "This will ensure that the number of structurally defi - cient bridges on state-owned highways, which peaked at 1,168 in 2004, will be essentially eliminated by the end of the decade," says Oklahoma DOT Secretary Gary Ridley. "After decades of major bridge problems, Oklahomans will fi nally have a safe and reliable bridge network that meets the needs of our growing state, and one for which we can all be proud." Gotcher adds, however, that if one aspect of Oklahoma 12 November 2012 Better Roads Interstate and state bridges Total surveyed *SD/FO 2009 288,511 288,944 63,910 62,454 22.2% 308,893 309,017 81,032 79,442 26.2% Total overall bridges surveyed Total *SD/FO = structurally deficient/functionally obsolete 597,404 597,961 144,942 141,896 24.3% 2010 21.6% 291,034 61,149 21.0% 25.7% 309,479 78,471 25.4% 23.7% 600,513 139,620 23.3% 2011 292,085 59,250 20.3% 310,006 77,566 25% 602,091 136,816 22.7% 2012 292,273 58,851 20.1% 309,881 76,806 24.8% 602,154 135,657 22.5% Source: Better Roads 2012 Bridge Inventory DOT could be changed to improve bridges, it would be to add more bridge inspectors and program managers. Ad- ditional qualifi ed personnel would help keep our inspectors current and further improve the supply of qualifi ed person- nel falls short of the inspection demands." In Maine, funding is still the biggest challenge for lower- ing the rate of the state's defi cient bridges. MAP-21 will not make a difference with the three bridges closed this past year in the state because of structural failure or collapse and the eight closed in the last fi ve years for that reason, Benjamin Foster, assistant bridge maintenance engineer with the Maine Department of Transportation, tells Better Roads. But Foster expects his agency to be able to lower the rate of defi cient bridges in this coming year through "bonds for bridge work." The West Virginia Department of Transportation does not foresee lowering its rate of defi cient bridges in the com- ing year. Insuffi cient funding will defer important work, according to W. Kyle Stollings, director of the maintenance division for West Virginia DOT. However, he does say that MAP-21 "stabilizes the planning process." The California Department of Transporation, com- monly known as Caltrans, often leads the way in trends and thought within the industry. The agency believes that MAP- 21's two-year commitment of funds gives Caltrans and local agencies "a measure of certainty needed to plan and deliver bridge improvement projects," says Matt Rocco, Caltrans me- dia relations manager. He says that in the short term, through fi scal year 2012-2013, no major changes to project funding is anticipated. "However, MAP-21 includes performance and accountability requirements, which in the long term, could

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